Comparing Scars
by dk-joy
Summary: Kakashi takes care of Iruka when complications from a head wound render him unable to take care of himself. Kakashi x Iruka get together fic. Other warnings inside.


Comparing Scars

Warnings and Disclaimer: Slight nudity, shounen ai (Kakashi x Iruka – my fave Naruto pairing!), language (mostly Iruka – which doesn't make him OOC cause anyone would curse in these situations),

Chapter 1: Iruka Injured

Out of nowhere and for no apparent reason (HE doesn't even know why he's there), Kakashi appears outside of Iruka's door. He is kind enough to knock instead of just barging in (or maybe he doesn't feel like dodging the various objects that would doubtlessly be hurled at his head if he entered unannounced.)

"What do you want?" Is shouted from within. A very un-Iruka-like greeting.

"Ummm…it's me…uhh…Kakashi…" Kakashi responds, suddenly hesistant.

"Oh. What do you want?" He says, still with a hostile tone of voice.

"Ah…ummm…I just wanted…to…talk to you…about…ummm…"

The door opens and a harassed- and injured-looking Iruka pokes his head out.

"Who are you? Kakashi never sounds hesistant. You're a really bad actor, just so you know." The door is slammed in (the REAL) Kakashi's face.

"Ummm…I AM Kakashi!" Kakashi states in a rather loud voice, starting to get rather annoyed at the chuunin's attitude.

"Sure." Is heard from inside. It sounds like it was just tossed over his shoulder like an insult.

"Grrr! Iruka open this damn door! I've got to talk to you about…umm…something that little son-of-a-bitch Naruto did!" Kakashi said. OK. It was closer to a scream.

The door opens again. "What did he do this time? And why can't YOU deal with it? You're his teacher now AND you're a jounin. I'm just a chuunin. What could I do that you couldn't?"

Kakashi didn't' answer. He just stared at the blood dripping off of the chuunin's chin.

"Umm…he…do you know you're bleeding on the floor?"

"SHIT! Son of a bitch! Fucking head wounds!" Iruka growled, grabbed the towel that was draped on his shoulders, balled it up, and slammed it into his right temple (the source of the blood). Apparently this was a bad idea because as soon as the towel touched the wound, his eyes went wide and his face became extremely pale. When the full force hit him, his eyes closed and his knees stopped supporting him.

Kakashi grabbed the younger man right before he hit the floor. He hadn't been expecting Iruka to lose his temper and try to stop the bleeding in such a rough way. He also wasn't expecting the chuunin to lose consciousness. He REALLY wasn't expecting how good Iruka felt in his arms. Despite this, Kakashi merely brought the chuunin into his house and laid him gently on the couch.

He looked at the coffee table and was glad to see bandages, ointments and other first aid equipment (he hadn't been looking forward to searching the house for them). He immediately took stock of what was there and got ready to patch the teacher up.

He started with the head wound, since it seemed to be the worst injury. He took the towel away from the chuunin's temple and immediately decided that he needed stitches. The chuunin's hair had been down (a nice change…maybe he should suggest that Iruka wear his hair down more often…), so Kakashi had been unable to see the area clearly when he was standing in the hallway.

Now that Iruka was laying down, he saw a large, jagged gash that extended from about half an inch from the younger man's right eyebrow to just above his ear. He couldn't tell what had caused the injury, but he knew that the chuunin had been on a mission for the last week and that he'd been due back yesterday (he found this out from someone who had been complaining about not seeing Iruka in the mission room). He also knew that Iruka had just returned about fifteen minutes before he knocked on the man's door (he had just happened to hear this from the people on guard duty at Konoha's gate).

What he didn't know is why Iruka hadn't immediately gone to the hospital or the mission room to report on the status of his assignment. He guessed (correctly) that the chuunin had probably been acting kind of oddly since receiving the head wound and that his normal priorities no longer applied. For example, instead of reporting on the mission or getting medical attention, Iruka had gone home to take a shower. He smelled really good (he used vanilla soap and cinnamon shampoo), but he was bleeding all over the place and already needed another shower.

Kakashi didn't know what had caused him to get the feeling that he should visit Iruka, but he was glad that he'd had the feeling all the same. The chuunin may have been lying unconscious in the house bleeding for hours before anyone thought to check on him. For some reason, the thought made Kakashi sad, even though he'd never really paid the chuunin any attention before.

TBC…

Author's Note: If people read and review this, I'll continue! If you've read any of my other fics, you know that I hurt the characters that I like (sorry!) Since this is the case, Iruka is obviously my favorite Naruto character. This story will eventually have some citrus (lemon or lime) that will begin when Kakashi and Iruka compare scars (slowly stripping for our viewing pleasure!)

Read, review and enjoy! I'm sorry that not much has happened yet (and it's so short…), but I just came up with the idea this morning!


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